deerslayer1

O cry me a river- While I agree that a child does not have a choice in the matter- why are we targeting the elderly- When they have arrived at the nursing home- such as myself if and when I get there- I will have been working and paying into the sytem for at least 45 years- this is just my money that I am getting back.
The person who has been collecting assistance for 10,15,20 years because "they can't work" has paid nothing into the sytem. The $480.00 a month stipend is only the tip of the iceburg- let's look at Food Stamps and, most of all, free medical care, not mention rental assistance.

I agree that the "big brother" theory is unwarranted- but I also fail to see how they are going to use this to lower our electrical costs- they will be able to better plan for high usage times- and upcharge accordingly like they do in the summer months during peak daylight times. I don't understand why we have to pay more for energy during peak summer times aka summer rates. Why don't they just average it out throughout the year. Soon you will see different hourly charges, based on usage etc so your bill will be even more confusing and they can grab every penny they can get- I am surprised that we are not being charged a surcharge for putting the new meter in

What is even more amazing is after 6 years of running Muskegon Heights Public Schools into the ground, he retires and walks away scott free- Nobody is hounding him as to what happened and why he took $185K per year for not doing his job. This was taxpayers money, and he is apparently not being held accountable for his actions

Why are we always blaming the Republicans- Please remember that the per pupil funding started being cut during the Granholm administration- even after promising in her campaign that she would never cut funding for schools- I don't know where the blame lies- but it seems unfair to blame the current adminsitration for what happened way back when

"The money for the purchase will come out of a $430,000 fund the township had put aside for construction of a fire station since the approved ballot language did not allow for bond money to be used to purchase property."

Why did the approved language not allow the bond money to be used to purchase the land, because the voters did not want nor did they approve the township to move the fire station. If we were OK with moving the station, we would have approved the first ballot, which had the language needed to purchase new land.

This is from the article on 11/3/11 stating what the Egelston Township voters were voting on with the new proposal. I think it clearly states that we did not want the Fire Station to move. This is what we approved, why are they changing it now.

The bond proposal before voters is $500,000 less than the February proposal — $2.3 million rather than $2.8 million — and would pay for a slightly smaller station. More significant is the elimination of a plan to buy land on which to build the new station.

“We had a lot of voters say they didn't want the station moved,” said Egelston Township Fire Chief Robert Smith. “We listened to that. We've made a general decision to try and keep it right where it's at.”

You seen to forget, this started before the Republicans came to town- Your dearly beloved Granholm, after numerous campaign promised NOT to cut school funding, cut the funding every year
Ah- what short memories people have

What is the definition of domestic partner? If aa man and a women have been living together, they have never been able to get health care together because they are not married. So if this overturned, and I am living with my girlfriend, then she is eligible for coverage under my health plan? Is she my domestic partner, or is that term only apply to gays? Just asking

$91,800.00 divided by 12 = $7650.00 per month- for not doing his job. If the person you elect is not doing his job, why are they notgetting rid ogf them. Think of this as a well paid teacher who will teach them how to do their job in the future-

The superintendent for Muskegon Heights made $145.000 per year- second only to Muskegon Public School ( about $200,000). To pay someone that much money every year, and have this result is horrible
The reason that the Teachers union does not want the State to take over management is that they have the ability to void the Collective bargainning agreements that are in place and they could lose some of their benefits. All in all it is a sad situation that has been coming for a long time- It will take more than just a manager from the state to fix this- it will take cooperation from all of the district, and that is going to be the problem

If you are going to speak of the Big Brother system, and I agree it is a great program, please remember that a great many of the children are not the product of people who cannot afford children,or cannot take care of them, My wife and I are raising our granddaughter, who is an only child for us, and the Big Brothers/Big Sisters is a way to bring a younger person in their life who can do more things than we can do due to our age. I am sure that there are a great many of others who are in our shoes. My wife's 3 children were members of the BB/BS system and it was not due to neglect, it was because the system could provide things that she could not as a single mother.She divorced her alcoholic husband and found herself needing help. They did not receive a "gracious handout". she worked 2 jobs and put herself through school to better herself. BB/BS is not there to"take care of them, only to provide a different mentor program to bring things to their life that, for whatever reason, the parent cannot. My wife's children are still close with their "Bigs" and it still provides them with another role model for their children.

and obviously you have never been to slaughterhouse where they make your process beef, chicken port or Turkey- do you think they are all humanely euthanized? frankly- I'd rather be shot- Think of that next time you grab that Big mac.
I don't think it's OK to kill swans- unless your are going to eat them- I only hunt what I eat

So it's not OK for me to promote not gift giving ( which was not my intent- only to point out the biblical meaning of Christmas- not the gimmee gimmee attitude of Christmas), but it's OK for you to equate a silly Christmas spoof song with a lunatic who runs over a swan in Fruitport- Amazing how quickly you jump to the conclusion that this is a grand political plot put on by the Republicans to tank the economy (which seems to need no help from me- thank you very much)- Do you check under your bed every night to see if the are Commie's hiding there? There is nothing political about my post , merely spiritual- but you have to make it political amazing

As for you Muskegonfan2- since when is the true meaning of Christmas "giving gifts large and small" ? That is the retailers true meaning of Christmas- Funny nobody else mentioned that- Oh yeah- that's because we are not supposed to speak of God anymore- that would be politically incorrect. See how quickly the minority brainwashed us

Funny- as stated in the article- the song has been performed in other Christmas concerts and nobody else had a problem with it but because 1 person objected, everybody gets in an uproar. The irony of the swan getting run down in Fruitport and this song is a real stretch for your people.
Why is it only 1 person complains, and everybody else has to bow down to them- there ar a lot of things that I object to, but have to follow everybody else's idea of how things should be. 1 person objected to prayer in schools, so now we have separation of church and state, and the kids can't even recite the Pledge of Allegiance in school because it has the word God in it- but nobody seems to object to that-I read recently that the legislature is drafting a bill to make it mandatory, but you know that the ACLU will file suit and block it. Since when does the minority run the country, and all of the rest of them kowtow down to them. Butt out and let them sing- It's a spoof- I'd rather have them singing a silly song than watching some of the stuff that's on television that passes for kids entertainment

I fail to see how this was disrespectful- It was a great way for people to learn about some of the people who built our town. I feel it is a great thing , and I hope it continues. I was not aware of it beforehand, otherwise I would have attended. I would look at this like a learning event as it taught history to some people. I am sure I have relatives there too, and I don't see this as disrespectful.
sorry Nancy, I think you are way off base on this.